Mohair – The Water Rats - 21st July 2004

Straight into the bluesy trippy summer rock of 'Limb by Limb', light AC/DC riffage with Hammond organ, confident howling vocals pouring into the chorus, creating an immense wall of sound, notes-a-sliding, this big haired bunch from Watford immediately set about charming the tremendously responsive audience to no end. The organ notes of 'L.A. Song' hover up in the air before the song rolls into its own groove, with its summer night jukebox feel, controlled chaos bubbling out of Tom Billington’s voice, his hair and our arses shifting and shaking along with the funky bass groove of Tim Slade. The next single (if it wasn’t for the parting of ways with the record company - as keyboardist Alex Richards puts it later - they’re now a ‘band for sale’), 'End of the Line', comes in with Pete Baker’s rolling drums, tambourine shakes, Hammond hammering out almost menacing orchestral grandeur into the bouncy pseudo-country blues, Tom relaying the narrative between comedy growls. Then, the hangover after the knees up kicks in and we’re settled into 'Getaway Car', beginning with just guitar and vocals “from the bottom of a shot glass”, the melody weaving over the increasing power of the drums, before it all caves in over our heads, like the clouds parting and the sun’s rays streaming down into our brains.

'Brown Eyes Blue', a favourite of Radio 2’s Janice Long, maintains the relatively quieter aspect of Mohair, with twinges of the Americana country feeding into this perfect alt.rock-pop song, telling us, “run away, get away, don’t burn your fingers on me”. Never dwelling on the negative, this is better than a course of Prozac with its indie barn-dance action and vocal variation from singing to growling to light screams. Dirty bluesy riffs come back into the play with 'Disarray', bursting out like the grungier side of the Beatles circa 1969. 'Thin Air' creeps in with a quiet Hammond intro, inducing goose bumps on the audience’s skin, before transforming into one of those songs that pull at your heart, make you feel like you’re falling in love, when the lights come on, and it’s like you’re the only one there, being serenaded, with its massive belting chorus and overwhelming emotion, “are you taking over, high time for a change” sweeping over and into us like a joyful despair. Feedback announces the last song of the night, 'Live and Let Live', with its Zeppelin influence, a jittery spasticated blast of classic rock showmanship, before Mohair dissolve into what seems like a naturally dizzying blues jam, then into more jazzy freestyling, Tom with his mad eyes bawling “I got nothing left” at the crowd, up on the monitor, before the authentic grand rock outro leaves us gasping and cheering for more.

by Kate Etteridge

Read Kate's interview with Mohair in the Interview section